District's comments have evolved as facts in data scandal emerged

Throughout the data scandal, Columbus schools officials had a variety of public comments on the matter. Here are some:

Jennifer Smith Richards, The Columbus Dispatch

Throughout the data scandal, Columbus schools officials had a variety of public comments on the matter. Here are some:

June 14, 2012: “I will not tolerate a situation where there is anyone knowingly or willingly manipulating the data. We don’t know what we have here — a big issue, a medium issue or a small issue.” — Superintendent Gene Harris

June 22, 2012: “People know how much I care about Columbus City Schools. ... They have to know that. Why wouldn’t they tell me they thought there was an action that was so horrible that was going on that needed to be stopped?” — Harris

July 29, 2012: “This is a complex issue with many moving parts. As a school district with high mobility among our students, keeping pace with changes to student records is an ongoing challenge.It has always been the expectation of the superintendent that our attendance-data submissions to ODE (the Ohio Department of Education) reflect what is actually occurring in our schools.” — Jeff Warner, schools spokesman

Aug. 19, 2012: “I’m not whining. I’m just stating the facts: We are under attack.” — Harris, at a meeting with principals

Sept. 9, 2012: “In August 2011, it appeared the issue was limited to only a handful of incidents. Since I had referred it to the internal auditor and state auditor ... I did not want to compromise the investigation. I was waiting for a conclusive report and idea of the scope of the issue from the internal auditor so that I could determine a course of action.” — Harris, on why she waited a year to tell everyone to stop changing data

Oct. 7, 2012: “The truth is that across this state and among larger school districts, it ... has been practice to evaluate large numbers of students to break enrollment.” — Robert “Buzz” Trafford, a lawyer representing the district

Oct. 7, 2012: “Are there control issues, is this sloppiness, or what?” — Harris

June 27, 2013: “We all know mistakes have been made in the past. I’m not pointing any fingers at anyone. I hope as we move forward we will stop doing that.” — Carol Perkins, then the school-board president

July 14, 2013: “We’re definitely concerned when we see large numbers of data changes, and particularly if those changes we find (are) undocumented.” — Warner

Sept. 8, 2013: “There are a lot of pieces to this data, and much more careful analysis is needed in order to draw conclusions about cause and effect.” — Jacqueline Bryant, a district spokeswoman, upon release of district report cards

Jan. 8, 2014: “I want us to send a sincere message to everyone throughout our organization and community that actions that undermine the district’s integrity will not be tolerated. Before we can move our district forward, we must acknowledge the past, specifically the manipulation of student data. Certainly, there is evidence that there were district employees who altered student records without appropriate justification. I regret that we failed the students, parents, staff and taxpayers of Columbus City Schools.” — Gary Baker, school board president

jsmithrichards@dispatch.com

@jsmithrichards

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